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The Promise of Direct-to-Consumer Telehealth for Disaster Response and Recovery

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 May 2016

Lori Uscher-Pines ,
Shira Fischer  and
Ramya Chari
Lori Uscher-Pines*
Affiliation:
RAND Corporation, Arlington, VirginiaUSA
Shira Fischer
Affiliation:
RAND Corporation, Boston, MassachusettsUSA
Ramya Chari
Affiliation:
RAND Corporation, Arlington, VirginiaUSA
*
Correspondence: Lori Uscher-Pines, PhD, MSc 1200 S Hayes St. Arlington, Virginia 22202 USA E-mail: luscherp@rand.org
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Abstract

Telehealth has great promise to improve and even revolutionize emergency response and recovery. Yet telehealth in general, and direct-to-consumer (DTC) telehealth in particular, are underutilized in disasters. Direct-to-consumer telehealth services allow patients to request virtual visits with health care providers, in real-time, via phone or video conferencing (online video or mobile phone applications). Although DTC services for routine primary care are growing rapidly, there is no published literature on the potential application of DTC telehealth to disaster response and recovery because these services are so new. This report presents several potential uses of DTC telehealth across multiple disaster phases (acute response, subacute response, and recovery) while noting the logistical, legal, and policy challenges that must be addressed to allow for expanded use.

Uscher-PinesL, FischerS, ChariR. The Promise of Direct-to-Consumer Telehealth for Disaster Response and Recovery. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(4):454–456.

Keywords

emergency preparedness and responsetelehealthtelemedicine
Type
Brief Report
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 31 , Issue 4 , August 2016 , pp. 454 - 456
Copyright
© World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2016 

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